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Thursday, January 8, 2009

On the road again...

Here's something you didn't know about me: Mr. Wing-it and I have a traveling job and we've been to thirty-five states and several National Parks. We've been on a break for a couple of months and now we're ready to get back out on the road! The nature of our job will remain undisclosed in order to maintain a certain level of mystery between us. Mwahaha! :)

Being an antisocial germaphobe means that eating out while we're traveling is out of the question, so I prepare all our meals in hotel rooms. Sometimes we stay in extended-stay type hotels and we have a small kitchen area with a stove and full size refrigerator, but a lot of our nights on the road are spent in regular hotel rooms. Here are some of our hotel-prepared road meals from previous years:

This was a stir-fry with potatoes, bell peppers, peas, and TVP strips.

Taco salad - the easiest road meal ever!

Stove top pizza made from scratch. We were staying at an extended-stay hotel that had a stove top but not an oven, so I made a yeast dough and cooked it on a frying pan covered with a glass lid.This was when we were traveling with a toaster oven. I made the pie crusts in the oven, filled them with vanilla custard and topped them with vegan buttercream and fresh strawberries.

No oven? No problem! We wanted cake, so I made a few thick cake-batter pancakes and layered them with vegan buttercream and sliced strawberries in between each pancake. Bummer, you can't see the sliced strawberries here.

The best part of our job is that we get to visit National Parks and other amazing places on our time off. Here are a few snapshots from the past few years...

Peek-a-boo! This little guy lives in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where you can find lots of wildlife and several Prairie Dog Towns. Prairie Dogs are such cute little dumplings!

Lunch time! Baby and mother buffalo at Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is the perfect place for wildlife-watching.Another Yellowstone resident. This bald eagle reached into the water with his/her foot and grabbed a fish! Can you see the foot reaching into the water?

Yellowstone Canyon. This is one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen,and the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. Mr. Wing-it almost fell in there trying to get a good shot!

We've been to Mount Rushmore twice. To me, man-made things don't even compare to nature-made mountains and canyons, but Mt. Rushmore really is quite impressive when you see it in person.

Redwoods in California. I don't remember if this was a National or State Park, but I do remember how everything was so quiet and desolate, and all we could hear were the gigantic trees making some sort of percussion sound.

So that's where we will be soon, on the road again. This year is extra exciting because I get to share our trip with all of you!

What a wonderful post! Your food looks so good for being made on the road--actually, it looks great for not-on-the-road food as well! Any chance you will be coming up to Alaska with your super-cool mystery job? We have parks! Pretty ones! We even have ground squirrels and bald eagles!

Wow! You're a wiz! I could have used your help during our 6 month road tour of Australia! :-) So cool that you and your DP can work/travel together. We aspire to that as well (you must share your secret one day, please!) LOVE the Canyon shot.

hey river!! you and your hubby must have an awesome job. i like that it's a mystery. i'm thinking of all these crazy jobs like undercover cops, special agents, food critics, and of course, a traveling circus.

i knew you guys wouldn't eat crap while you're in a hotel!! this is the best hotel food i've ever seen. i love the pancake cake. it's awesome.

i can't wait to see where you guys go!! holler when you get to pennsylvania!!!

great post!All the road food looks incredible, special props to the no cake, cake- such a clever idea!I love all your on the road pics, specially the one falling off the cliff that was hilarious oh and i just realized that's the first actual photograph i've seen of mt. rushmore it looks extrodinary

on the road job sounds amazing...i want one...and all the food you make whilst on the road...can't wait to see more pics and creative inventions while you're away...do you bring a mini kitchen with you on the road?best of luck on your travels :)

Your mystery job sounds awesome. So you get to travel around beautiful National Parks, working with your husband? TOO COOL!And your food looks amazing too! You really are the master of winging it! I would never think to make pizza on the hob (stove top)!If I had to live kitchenless, in a hotel room, I would probably end up eating many, many, sammiches.......and Doritos! Your pictures are beautiful! I get so excited if I ever see a wild animal, it makes my day!And nice to see another picture of you! You look like you are having a blast (are you sure you are 'working'? Hee hee!).Happy road trippin' to you both >:o)

this is so exciting, River! thanks for sharing all the awesome pictures from past trips with us. that's so cool! i loooove your hotel room meals - they rock so hard! i can't even imagine making all that awesomeness, you're too good! :D glad you're bringing the laptop with you, too - i would be most sadfaced & miss your posts if you weren't!

Making your own vegan food in a hotel room? I am SUPER IMPRESSED! Everything is so yummy looking! Who needs lame restaurant food?! Mr. Wing-it is a lucky man! I'm so jealous that you get to travel so much. The only 2 states I've been to are Iowa and Texas. Your travel pics are great!

The pictures are beautiful. Sounds like you have an awesome job. Are they hiring :) I am like you in regards to restaraunts, I am very neurotic about who cooks my food. There are only a handful of restaraunts I will eat at. That is why I cook so much at home.

So, to answer a few of your questions, one of our suitcases is our "kitchen bag". In it we have kitchen utensils, a frying pan, a couple of small saucepans, one mixing bowl, little food storage containers, plates and silverware. On the same bag we have dry foods, like beans, rice, oats, breadcrumbs, spices, TVP, tomato sauce, flour, sugar, etc. Oh, and we have a portable single burner. It's a very heavy bag!

Our snacks (cookies, nuts, crackers, bars, cereal) go in a canvas bag in the back seat for easy access.

Lisa, my favorite extended stay hotels are Mainstay Suites by Choice Hotels and TownePlace Suites by Marriott. They are clean, their kitchen area is well equipped, and you pretty much always know what to expect from them. The Extended Stay America hotels aren't too bad, but their beds are terribly uncomfortable.

Anyway, I'll write more about hotels and all our preparations soon. Oh, and I'll take pictures of our kitchen bag when it's packed and ready to go!

Those are such fantastic pictures! I also love your resourcefulness while eating on the road. I guess if I traveled that much I'd think more about it, but I usually just end up packing a lot of stuff and craving anything cooked by the end of a trip!

I'm loving the cooking on the road. That should be a Food Network show all on its own....River on the Road! As far as my FN aspirations, no word. It's one of those things where they don't tell you if don't get picked. But, I feel like I would have heard something already. But, I'm not bummed. It has energized me to work harder, learn more, hone my vegan skills. Too, from the feedback from viewers on the site, I need to do more actual cooking in the video. Totally going to incorperate that and somehow get a video going of me in my 3'' square kitchen :). Here's to the sixth season of FN Star!

You are just so cool, Ms River! I am in awe of how you made all those things in a hotel room, without a stove!! They all look gorgeous and totally enticing. And I love the trip photos! That little rodent is even cute when you take its pic! ;)

I can't believe you make all those amazing meals in a hotel! I've never been to a hotel where I get a stove top for the least. I'll check those kinds of hotels next time I travel. Ok, just read in your reply that you bring your burner! So clever! Do they let you cook in your room? I suppose they don't know!Your trips sound so exciting! I want to go travelling!

I'm in awe of the food you come up with at hotel rooms. Travelling is so great, but eating on the road can get frustrating...looks like you've taken care of that problem.

Also, how nice to see a prairie dog from Theodore Roosevelt NP! I love it out there, and we ND people are pretty proud of that park. I've had so much fun hiking and kayaking out there - makes me wish it was summer!

Hope to see posts while you're on the road, and have safe and happy travels! Great photos.

Do you shop on the road at regular grocery stores, or do you try to hit upon local farmer's markets? I know in places like Arizona when we were there (we're big travelers too, but me not s much at the moment with 4 kids) the vegan shopping options aren't great.We do eat out a lot, and the veg chili bread bowl at one of the Grand Canyo lodges is fantastic!

What an incredibly wonderful job! Wanna trade? MIne is in an office without windows. Hate it! You are a crackup, but your hotel meals are perfect. I can't wait to see what you come up with on the next road trip. Enjoy, be safe, and stay in touch!

PS. pizza on the stove top? How the heck did you do that. I wanna try!

Oh my gosh, that bottom photo is so scary! It looks like you're going to fall into the abyss! NOOO!

Oh my gosh, I didn't realize it was possible to be so creative when cooking on the road and at hotels. I would definitely be interested in more posts about how you do this! The pancake-tower cake and the stovetop pizza crust are so awesome -- you get an A+++ for coming up with that!

You're an International Vegan of Mystery! I can't believe all the magical things you made in hotel rooms - I mean food. Sorry, that sounded weird. You are superamazing!I love all those fantastic pictures - you have really seen the US!

YOU'RE NO FAUX CHICKEN!Babybear and I won't have you think these thoughts.Buddy, the mjeddrah thing is good if you like lentils..plus I would caramelized my onions a bit more to make it sweeter. Plus you most prob have those ingredients lying around.

I want Mr. Wing-It's job! What a blessed opportunity. And good for you for eatin' so well out there. I know it is hard for me on the road sometimes... when I'm driving the big rig o'er the mississippi (said in a raspy trucker voice). haha

**Just as a heads up: I will not be able to comment on blogs as often now, during this semester, due to work overload (I'm stressed already) - PLEASE know that I'm still loyally reading, but just won't have time to comment. I hope you understand!!

Wow! It's so great to catch up with you. What amazing and wonderful jobs you have. And I'm so impressed that as travelers you cook your own meals, and that they look as if they were prepared in your very own kitchen. I enjoyed all the park photos!

I'm so glad I discovered your blog! I too like to stay in hotel rooms with kitchens when I travel. It's cheaper and you end up eating better. I'm super impressed with your desserts and stove top pizza!